Editorial: D.A.'s outreach in Chester a step in right direction

George Dawson, deputy distrtict attorney, center left, with District Attorney Jack Whelan, center right, along with local police ATF agents, and C.I.D. walk the Chester neighborhood along the 1100 West 2nd Street to knock on doors and ask residents for support to help stop the gun violence (Times Staff/ROBERT J. GURECKI).

The district attorney was blunt in his assessment of the persistent scourge of street gun violence that continues to afflict the city of Chester.

“It has to stop, but it isn’t going to stop in the next 10 minutes or the next 10 days,” Whelan said as he took part in the latest march in the city.

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It’s part of a series of community outreach efforts his office has undertaken to press engagement with the community.

How bad is the situation? Just 30 minutes before Monday’s walk began, two more city residents were wounded by gunfire.

It’s easy to mock the sight of Whelan, joined by a small army of law enforcement types and city officials on the march in troubled parts of the city. On Monday Whelan was accompanied by Delco Sheriff Mary McFall Hopper, several assistant district attorneys, county detectives and Chester police officers, as well as representatives from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, SEPTA transit police and staffers from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

If that wasn’t enough, there was a small phalanx of city ministers on hand as well. The city certainly could use a prayer.

No one knows better than Whelan that the answer to Chester’s ills will not be found in marches, or in Operation City Surge, put in place earlier this summer to stem the tide of street violence in the city by getting a bigger police presence on the street.

None of these things will hurt, but they aren’t the answer. Neither is the often-heard suggestion of sending in the National Guard or a small army of state police.

The answer to Chester’s ills likely won’t come from outside, but rather from the same people who now take refuge inside their homes, too often prisons to the gunfire that has become the norm, simply part of everyday life in Chester.

Whelan used the occasion to again make a pitch to Chester residents. He’s willing to meet them halfway. But he and law enforcement can’t do it alone. They need help. They need to know what city residents know.

“We aggressively pursue and prosecute individuals who shoot people … but unfortunately without the help of the residents, that’s not going to end the violence.”

That is not to say that events such as Monday’s march and barbecue, where city and county officials sat down after their march and talked with city residents, are without merit. We’ll leave that argument to those who turn a blind eye to the progress made in the city, and the promise that still resides there.

Seeing a phone number listed in the newspaper or online to call with information is one thing. Sitting down at a barbecue with the district attorney, a county detective or federal prosecutor is another altogether.

That sentiment was not lost on Percy Carter, who has resided in Chester for 85 of his 90 years. Carter noted that there was a time when you knew the cop walking a beat in your neighborhood.

“Now the only time you see a cop is when something happens,” he said.

Longtime city resident Cathy Beckett also noted that she was encouraged by meeting some of the people charged with investigating crime in the city.

Carter said he remembered another time in the city.

“It used to be quiet and peaceful,” he said.

It can be again. It’s up to the residents.

Events such as Monday’s walk help, despite the snark that flows from the city’s critics. Engagement is part of the process, the first steps in the road as residents join city, county and federal authorities to draw a line in the sand, to take back their streets.

“They are sick and tired of the gun violence and feeling trapped in their homes,” Whelan said. “They want to come out of their homes and don’t want to be held hostage by gun violence.”